Monument’s Bobby Kinne tags out Pittsfield’s Chad Shade as he tries to run to third base during the Spartans’ win at Clapp Park in Pittsfield.

Posted
Monday, May 6, 2013 11:30 pm

By Howard Herman, Berkshire Eagle Staff

PITTSFIELD -- Monument Mountain had five first-year varsity players in the starting lineup Monday against Pittsfield. Those youngsters helped push the Spartans into the Western Massachusetts Division II tournament.

Freshman Dominic DeFelice's RBI double in the top of the eighth inning scored Bobby Kinne from second base, and sophomore James Allentuck retired the side in order in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Spartans beat PHS 6-5 in extra innings at Clapp Park.

"I don't think we expected to clinch the tournament [berth] this early," said Kinne, who was 3 for 4 with two runs scored. "We keep saying to each other that we're going to keep rolling through each game."

DeFelice's double made a winner out of Allentuck, who came on in relief of Christian Callahan in the seventh inning.

Pittsfield reliever Ben Stohr opened the eighth by getting Brandon Perry on a groundout to Anthony Jones at third. Kinne hit an 0-1 pitch for a single to right.

Kinne stole second on a 1-1 pitch to DeFelice, and on the next pitch, the freshman second baseman roped a double to right, plating Kinne with the go-ahead run. De Felice finished 2 for 5 with 3 RBI.

"I was just looking for a hit. I wanted to get up there and get a good shot," said DeFelice. "For me, it didn't matter where it went as long as I got a hit."

In the home eighth, Allentuck set the Generals down in order to win the game.

The Spartans had tied the game with two runs on one hit, an error and a pair of RBI groundouts in the top of the seventh. PHS squandered a golden opportunity in the home seventh.

Callahan threw two balls to Kevin Donati, and Monument coach Tom Hankey brought Allentuck in. Allentuck retired the first two hitters but walked the next three to load the bases.

"I'm not sure, to be honest," said Allentuck, when asked what was going through his mind. "I was still thinking about what had happened in the game and I just needed to settle down and find my rhythm."

Pittsfield's Bobby New hit a 2-2 pitch skyward, and Allentuck avoided a collision with Oggiani and made the catch to end the threat.

"The bottom line is we didn't do it," Pittsfield coach Bob Moynihan said. "We didn't do it on the mound. We didn't do it at bat. We had the opportunities."

TALK TO US

If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please
email us. We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by
filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom.